


Payment Plan: Sixth Installment

by Indehed



Series: Bride Price [6]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Possessive Steve McGarrett
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-22 04:40:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/909027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indehed/pseuds/Indehed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Chin could see something wasn't right, then why couldn't Steve? They were partners; they were supposed to know each other better than anyone else. Steve's blinders were on. He was focused on the prize and wasn't worried about collateral damage along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think some of this is what people have been crying out for: a sympathetic ear for Danny who is right there and can see what this is doing to him. These next few chapters can maybe be seen as an upward climb..  
> Thanks once more to Paulette, who, despite cursing at her email, has done a fab turnaround on these!

Steve kissed down into Danny's neck. "You need to eat, Danny, seriously. You'll need your energy for tonight."

He could feel Steve's seductive smirk against his shoulder, deft fingers having pulled his shirt back for better access. 

He lowered his hands back to the table, exposing his eyes to the world once more and he turned his head to try and get a better look at his partner. "You did not just fucking…" He scrunched his fists up tight and bit his lip, doing his best to rein his anger in. 

Steve covered one of his hands, pulling his fingers apart and twining them with his own. "It's simple, Danno. We both signed, we're both stuck with each other now. And that's a good thing. It amazes me that you don't see it that way. The level of commitment we're showing to each other? It's getting rarer, you don't see it so much these days."

"For good reason."

"No, because people are viewing marriage as something frivolous. Don't like it? Then get a divorce and move on! Don't think about the other people in your life affected by your decision, just take the easy road and get out of there. I never wanted that. I waited, Danny. I waited for perfect."

"I'm not perfect. No one is."

Steve cupped Danny's chin. "I disagree; I think we're a perfect match for each other. I knew it the minute I made you my partner."

"And what would you do if I said I wanted a divorce?" Danny asked carefully, wary of Steve's behavior today.

"I'd laugh probably. We made it impossible. I get to keep you." Steve smiled wide and stood, coming around to lean on Danny's shoulders from behind, giving him a backwards hug before kissing the top of his head. "Eat, baby, I'm going to see the Governor out."

Danny's phone beeped and he reached into his pocket to pull it out. He stared at the screen for a moment and debated opening up the full message but he'd reached a point where he didn't think anything could get much worse for him so he pressed to let it fill the screen. 

He was tempted to give a wry laugh at what he read. His sisters had spoken with his mother, it seemed. Now the whole family knew. Great, just great. It was good to see they were behind him on this, but there was very little they could do, not from New Jersey, and not within the parameters of the law, so his eldest sister couldn't _**actually**_ do what she had suggested. Not without serious jail time. 

He deflated as he rested the phone on the table in front of him and reluctantly dug into his dinner. He had been riding high on adrenaline and righteous anger for most of the day and was too keyed up to eat, but his stomach was protesting violently and he needed to get something into himself before he collapsed. He was already shaky. He was pretty sure it was from the hunger. 

Not long before he'd finished a shadow appeared over him, and then the form of Chin came around the table to sit opposite him. 

"This the first time you've been able to eat today?" he asked.

"Yeah, pretty much, except coffee."

"You doing okay?" It could be a throwaway comment, a question people always ask, not expecting a long, drawn out answer detailing their woes, but something in Chin's eyes made it seem like that was exactly what he expected. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, trying to gauge where Chin was going with it. 

"That's some contract you signed. When I got here this morning, I swear, I've never seen McGarrett happier, but you… I can see how that smile drops when you think no one is looking. Kono thinks it's because you miss your family, but I don't know…"

Danny leaned back in his chair, appraising Chin, and cautiously tried to put some of his thoughts into the right words. "From what I see, you Hawaiians take the marriage structure seriously, like it's some kind of nod to your ancestors to keep the traditions alive. What you all forget is that I'm not Hawaiian, I just live here. Steve, for all his years being here, isn't exactly 'native' either, not in that sense, so you tell me where it says I should feel guilty about _**my**_ traditions and values."

"You're worried about what people will think," Chin nodded in understanding. "That stuff last year at the Heiau really got to you."

"No, no it really didn't. I didn't think so anyway. The ceremony I can deal with, it's not like it takes up a lot of time, I can be flexible about that. When in Rome…"

"So…?" Chin asked, confused. 

"It's not about today, Chin," Danny looked at him, hoping he might catch on without having to explain it further. 

"It's about the rest of your life," Chin concluded. "This is about the contract, not the wedding."

"Be honest with me, buddy. You think it's right for us?" He didn't want to put words in Chin's mouth, he didn't want to sway him by outright asking if he thought it was wrong.

Chin weighed up his thoughts. "You thought so when you signed it. And I can tell you that you're both garnering a lot of respect for putting so much in, not everyone could throw themselves so confidently into such an agreement, not in this day and age." Chin leaned back, mirroring Danny's pose, trying to keep open and relaxed as they spoke. "I think that so long as you're both happy and get what you want, then it's all good, no matter how it's contracted."

Danny tapped his fork against his mouth. If Chin could see something wasn't right, then why couldn't Steve? They were partners; they were supposed to know each other better than anyone else. Steve's blinders were on. He was focused on the prize and wasn't worried about collateral damage along the way.

Chin was beginning to look worriedly at him, like any second he was going to comfort him and hug him and he didn't want that because if Chin did that, then he'd probably give in and tell him everything about how he was feeling and he needed to save that for Steve.

He did the only thing he could think of to avoid anything emotional, and went straight to the humor. "I gave him my car."

Chin laughed, loud enough to attract attention to them again. "Brah, that was stupid."

"You're telling me."


	2. Chapter 2

"Nuff respect, Jersey," Kamekona clapped Danny on the back. "You got balls."

"I do?"

"Taking on a challenge like McGarrett? Sure do."

"He's nothing if not challenging," Danny said wistfully as he turned his head to look where Steve was in conversation with Kono and Catherine. They were all smiling, laughing. Perfectly happy. It was good to see, but it made Danny feel like an outsider at what was essentially his own party.

"You need a good deal on the honeymoon, you see me first, brah."

"Yeah, sure thing, Shamu." Danny nodded and gave Kamekona the best approximation of a man-hug that he could manage around the native Hawaiian's bulk. "Not sure there's going to be one of those though."

"No honeymoon? That's not right, brutha. You gotta make time for it. Decompress, get used to married life. Enjoy a little alone time."

"If Steve wants some 'alone time' then he's welcome to it," Danny said. Kamekona gave him a funny look, but instead seemed to interpret that his own way and chuckled as he turned around to help Max with his tofu option.

Danny grabbed his cake and made his way back over to where Chin was sitting.

"Hungrier than I thought," he pointed to the large slab on his plate and dug in. He wanted to ask Chin something, but wasn't sure if it was his place, or if the feelings were too raw, but there was understanding in Chin's eyes and he'd never shied away from this kind of thing before. 

"Chin, you had a good deal with Malia, right?"

"Yeah, I got off lightly, I think."

"How come?"

"We spent a lot of time going over things. I mean, she's a doctor, I'm a cop. She earned way more than me."

"You both put in the same?"

"Pretty much. And if we got divorced we'd bargained on a pretty even split of assets. The crux of the deal came in other issues like…" Chin dropped his head for a moment and Danny could see that whatever he was going to mention was harder for him. "My job was a sticking point. Not the stuff from before. I'd been exonerated, reinstated; it wasn't a worry. But injury or death? It's a dangerous job and with the way McGarrett runs Five-0, more dangerous than most."

"Tell me about it," Danny agreed. "So she put in provisions?"

"Yeah. Truth be told, we barely talked about what might happen if she went first."

Danny reached out a hand and clapped it on Chin's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man."

"Look, I know you're having some kind of issue with everything while Steve's too busy celebrating to notice, but take a good, hard think about how to approach everything. It doesn't matter how much of a whirlwind this really was in the end, you guys have pretty much been together for two years and everyone noticed. _**Everyone**_. You both wear your heart on your sleeve where the other is concerned and I don't want you to lose what you have over this."

"I don't want to ruin anything," Danny placated, seeing that somehow his and Steve's happiness meant something to Chin, especially after what the older man had been through in the last year. "As much as it pains me to admit it, I actually like the stupid son of a bitch. I just need him to come back from whatever covert mission he's playing in his head and join me in the real world long enough to understand my concerns. Not just sweep them under a rug because he knows what he's doing."

He stopped himself from saying more. He sounded depressed to his own ears and he wasn't far from being overtly upset and that was not something he wanted right now. He pressed everything back inside, wiped a hand over his jaw and took another bite of cake. 

"He does love you," Chin's eyes were soft, like they were saying that he knew what love looked like and not to take that part lightly either. Danny could do little more than nod. "I'm going to get a beer, you want one?"

"God, yes," Danny responded before remembering his bargain to not drink today. Chin was already on his feet and heading to the side table they'd pulled outside to use as a 'bar', which pretty much just had a bunch of beer sitting in a big old bowl with ice. 

"So I had two pieces," Steve's slightly guilty voice came from behind as Danny scooped the last of his cake into his mouth.

"Sorry?" he asked automatically, not sure what Steve was meaning. 

"The cake," he replied, sitting down beside Danny and pulling his seat in closer. "I had two pieces. Gonna have to do a lot of exercise later to feel better about that." He leaned in and stole a kiss from Danny's sugary lips. "Hmm, you taste good," he murmured before stealing another.

"I didn't see Catherine arrive," Danny said, pulling back and trying to make conversation.

"She dropped in about half an hour ago after finishing at work. By the way, Chin gave me this to give to you." He held up two bottles of beer and passed one over to Danny. "I thought you weren't drinking?"

"Yeah, I wasn't, and I shouldn't, but what the hell, one beer won't hurt." He took a big swig, gulping down a good quarter of the bottle in one go. 

"Everything's winding down a bit. Governor left along with the guys from his office, and the HPD lot have all gone, too. Pretty much just leaves Five-0 and some of our extended family."

"I can see that," Danny said looking around them. 

"Which means you don't need to be so focused on keeping up appearances. Let your hair down a little. Eat, drink, be merry…"

"You trying to get me drunk again?" Because if Steve said yes, he was getting a knee to the balls any minute. 

"No, I didn't mean that." Well, that was something. "Just that we were planning on putting the seats out in a bit of a circle, a little music and relaxing to enjoy the late afternoon sun."

"That actually sounds kinda nice," Danny admitted. He'd actually quite like to enjoy some time with friends, maybe he could just forget about things for a little while. He took another swig and decided that yeah, they could do that. 

"Rachel was wanting to head off, get Grace home for dinner. You should go say bye. I think my mom was going to go, too. Not sure we really want her around considering where the conversation will probably go," Steve screwed up his face and it was kind of adorable and it actually made Danny smile. Steve kissed him again and then let him go find his erstwhile daughter and ex-wife.


End file.
